Chapter 257 : Indra And Ashura

The Nine Tails thought for a moment, then looked at Riku and said, "The mother of the Sage of Six Paths—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—was unimaginably powerful. She had enough power to destroy the entire world. She originally intended to do just that, but in the end, she was sealed by the Sage of Six Paths and his brother."

Riku stared at the Nine Tails in disbelief.

The Nine Tails wouldn't have been surprised if Riku had known this already. But instead, he chuckled and asked, "Well? Feeling like you're not all that impressive now?"

Riku looked at him calmly. "Not exactly. It's just strange to think the Sage of Six Paths even had a mother—and that she was so strong."

The corners of the Nine Tails' mouth twitched slightly. "Where did you think he came from, then? You thought he just sprang into being? He was called a sage, but that doesn't make him a literal god."

Riku blinked. "I figured he was born from nature itself or something. Isn't he supposed to be a sage?"

The Nine Tails stared at him in silence for a moment, clearly at a loss for words. Eventually, he gave a wry smile. "You've got a brain, but you're missing the basics. Just because people called him a sage doesn't mean he wasn't human. He had a mother, just like anyone else."

The truth was, the Nine Tails had a deep respect for the Sage of Six Paths. If anyone else had said something like that, he would've roared in anger. But not Riku.

Mainly because Riku was powerful enough to back up his words. And also, the Nine Tails didn't really dislike him.

At first, the beast had been wary of Riku—maybe even a little hostile. But after getting to know him, he realized Riku wasn't half-bad.

Riku nodded thoughtfully. "I see. I'm guessing the Sage of Six Paths learned senjutsu too?"

The Nine Tails nodded. "Yeah. He trained in the senjutsu of Mount Myōboku. But you didn't, did you? Your chakra doesn't carry the same signature."

He could sense it clearly—Riku hadn't learned his senjutsu from Mount Myōboku. Most likely, it came from Ryūchi Cave. The Shikkotsu Forest's senjutsu hadn't been fully mastered by anyone in over a thousand years.

Each location had its specialty: Mount Myōboku's senjutsu leaned heavily toward ninjutsu, Ryūchi Cave specialized in illusions, and Shikkotsu Forest's was more physical in nature.

Riku had clearly studied the Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu, but rarely used illusions. He favored ninjutsu. Still, the differences were more about technique emphasis than actual chakra type. All senjutsu chakra came from the same source.

In terms of difficulty, though, Shikkotsu Forest's was the most challenging. In more than a thousand years, no one had mastered it.

Not even Tsunade.

But Riku had signed a contract with the Shikkotsu Forest.

He just never summoned Katsuyu in battle. "Katsuyu" was the species name; the actual summon had a true name, which Riku had never spoken in battle.

Riku smiled at the Nine Tails. "Good guess. I learned senjutsu at Ryūchi Cave. I've also studied the Shikkotsu Forest's senjutsu, but it's more of a side path. They're similar in form, but different in essence. Shikkotsu Forest's techniques are more regenerative and better at enhancing the body's physical capabilities—perfect for taijutsu specialists."

"I never touched Mount Myōboku's path."

The Nine Tails laughed. "You really learned senjutsu from Ryūchi Cave, huh? That type of senjutsu has a strong suppressive effect on tailed beasts. Ryūchi Cave's techniques lean heavily into genjutsu."

"And their illusions are top-tier."

Riku nodded. "Definitely. I tried it once. The illusion was way stronger than anything a Mangekyō Sharingan could produce. During a fight with a powerful shinobi from the Ghost Clan, the snake spirit beside me was able to trap a peak Kage-level opponent in a hallucination."

"And that was without me interfering. If I joined in, even super-Kage-level opponents would likely be caught in the genjutsu and unable to break free."

The Nine Tails stared at Riku, slightly exasperated. "With your level of power, I don't think you even need genjutsu to overwhelm super-Kage-level shinobi."

He didn't know the full extent of Riku's strength, but just the fact that Riku could use a perfect Sage Mode and summon True Several Thousand Hands like Senju Hashirama already put him at an elite level. Not to mention, his chakra reserves were several times greater than Hashirama's.

That alone made him far stronger.

What made him truly terrifying, though, was his Lightning Style. It wasn't normal Lightning Release—it was almost… alive.

The Nine Tails was sure it had to be a kekkei genkai.

Riku's Lightning Style clearly contained the Yang Release nature. Otherwise, it wouldn't behave the way it did—so fluid, so controlled, so vibrant.

It might even contain Yin Release.

If it did, then it wasn't just a kekkei genkai. It was a kekkei tōta—bloodline elimination.

The Nine Tails realized, with some awe, that Riku's strength was approaching that of the Sage of Six Paths.

His chakra levels were nearing that of the Ten Tails.

A terrifying thought.

If Riku mastered both Yin and Yang Release completely, he would reach the level of a true Six Paths Sage.

The Nine Tails stared at him. "Your current strength… it's probably quite close to that of the Sage of Six Paths. If you had the Rinnegan, you'd be at his level."

Riku smiled modestly. "You're giving me too much credit."

But the Nine Tails wasn't exaggerating. Riku lacked only the Rinnegan. If he had it, he would easily rival the Sage of Six Paths—if not Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself.

In raw strength, Kaguya surpassed the Sage. But he and his brother Hamura had sealed her away using Yin and Yang Release.

What Kaguya lacked was battle experience.

But that wasn't surprising. When you're that overwhelmingly powerful, experience doesn't matter much.

What the Nine Tails didn't know was that Riku already possessed the Rinnegan—and his eye power far exceeded that of Uchiha Madara.

He simply hadn't mastered Yin and Yang Release to their limits yet, and thus hadn't fully stepped into the realm of the Six Paths.

Still, Riku could feel it: his Yang Release was almost perfected. Yin Release still had a bit to go, but the gap was shrinking.

The Nine Tails looked him over. "I'm not overestimating you. You have more chakra than Senju Hashirama, by several magnitudes. Your body is far stronger. You've mastered Wood Style, perfected Sage Mode... Honestly, you're already beyond the level of Indra and Ashura."

Even though Ashura had some Six Paths power, it didn't mean he had reached the true level of the Sage himself. The Six Paths level required something more.

Becoming the Ten Tails' jinchūriki, or merging with it entirely.

Riku hadn't yet fully mastered Yin-Yang Release. That was the final step.

But if he wanted, he could already enter Six Paths Mode—and even use the Truth-Seeking Balls.

And when he did, his power would eclipse even Ashura's

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